Inspired by the physicist Nikola Tesla's legendary experiments, Bosch & Simons have produced a large series of works based on vibration and resonance. Wilberforces is a new product of their extensive artistic research into complex, unpredictable systems and unstable balances, a piece which is part physics experiment and part new-media installation.

The Wilberforce pendulum, which the piece references, consists of a hung spring with central and eccentric weights. Once calibrated, vertical and circular movements alternate even without additional external energy. It is an example of a coupled mechanical oscillator, often used as a demonstration in physics education.

In Wilberforces, Bosch & Simons build further on this scientific experiment, having added an external force and by equipping the springs with audiovisual equipment that documents everything around the FACT aAtrium. The attached video camera, microphone and two tiny loudspeakers generate visual and audio data. The irregular motion of the springs can be tracked and experienced through a real time projection of sound and image within a purpose-built dark space at the rear of the building.